Monday, May 23, 2005

Bloggers as a group combine two attributes -- the ability to assemble expertise on almost any topic at extreme speed, and the propensity to write at very high velocity. This combination of expertise and velocity comes at the cost, perhaps, of sobriety (there's the tavern metaphor) and deliberation. However, the competing tendency of bloggers to edit each other, also at high velocity, limits the potential damage of errors of fact.

One of his commenters adds:

Blogging is in some respects nothing really new in America. It's the free expression of opinion and ideas. What's truly revolutionary is its low cost of production and distribution for so many people with opinions.

Blogging has the potential in many parts of the world to replace the cliche mimeograph machine in the closet. Unless they want to go the route of a North Korea, it is difficult for regimes to maintain control over what their people read and communicate. That's truly revolutionary.